BAM!
Startled awoke by the sudden loud noise, Marshall looked around his room in a drunken daze. His eyes were heavy with sleep. They would hardly open enough for him to register the moonlight. Marshall kept on bobbing his head to keep it from touching his pillow, which was so soft and inviting. After waiting about twenty seconds, he lost the fight to his sleep. As his head hit the pillow, he started snoring.
BAM!
For the second time, Marshall was awoken by a sudden noise. He got up with his heart almost beating out of his chest. Almost as if waking up from a nightmare. Breathing hard, Marshall tried pinpointing the origin of the sound. He heard the thunderous sounds of silence.
With too much adrenaline running through his veins, Marshall felt his drowsiness clearing up. Having no choice, Marshall sat at the edge of his bed contemplating nothing. Though he was awake, it was similarly too early and too late to have anything on his mind. So, Marshall waited for something to happen.
Seconds flew by like minutes, and minutes like an eternity. The quiet room amplified the strange atmosphere. It was as if something in the dark was waiting to pounce on its prey. The prey was Marshall. It was safe to say Marshall was not having a good time.
Not more than two minutes passed when Marshall's heartbeat returned to normal, and the adrenaline started fading. The creepy atmosphere started to ease, and Marshall began to hear sounds again. First, the sounds of his heart beating at a steady rhythm. Then to the ticking of the analog clock. Marshall released a turbid breath of relief.
Marshall got off his bed to get a bottle of water. When the cold water entered his mouth, it moistened the dryness and quenched his thirst. The water was akin to a rejuvenation potion. It was delightful. Marshall then drank more than half of the bottle before he was satisfied.
After wiping the nonexistent water from his lips, Marshall went to his phone to check the time. It was three-sixteen a.m. Usually, during this time of night, he would be at his night job. There was once a time before his current night job when he woke up in the middle of the night; Marshall would scroll through social media until he fell asleep. With the situation being what it was, that was not destined to happen.
Marshall was dually happy to be away from work and frustrated with the lack of internet and service connection. He had no choice but to put the phone down. Having nothing to do, Marshall rested on the bed with his feet partially touching the ground and stared at the dark ceiling. Bored out of his mind, Marshall was left with his thoughts and the loud ticking of the wall clock.
TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK!
Time seemed to pass at a snail's pace.
Marshall started tapping on the bed loud enough to register the sound but not loud enough to awaken the sleeping kitten. The boredom got to the point where he began to swing his dangling legs like a little kid.
Eventually, Marshall got tired of the antics and sat up. Not knowing what else to do to pass his time, he got up and headed for the window. While peeking through the slit in the window blinds, the bright moonlight hit his eyes. It caused Marshall's eyes to start to water and squint. After taking time to adjust to the brightness, Marshall spied on the street in front of his eyes.
The first thing that Marshall noticed was the car pileup was left in the same place untouched, and on a closer glance, he saw the dead body from earlier. After seeing the dead body, Marshall had the inkling that he would be the one to bury it. He was not looking forward to that moment, but it would be the right thing to do.
Marshall looked to his left to find nothing of note. Then he turned to his right and saw a shadow close to his door. Thinking that his mind and eyes were playing a trick on him, Marshall counted silently to three before wiping his eyes for insurance. When he looked again, the shadow was still there. On a closer glance, the shadow seemed to clear up. It was the silhouette of a man. Marshall flinched.
Seemingly able to feel Marshall's gaze, the shadow figure moved.
BAM!
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Marshall almost jumped out of his skin. WTF, Marshall almost yelled out. He felt his heart trying to escape from his chest. This was straight out of a horror movie.
BAM!
Marshall stepped back from the window with quick and shallow breaths. Panic started to set in.
BAM!
FCK, Marshall yelled out audibly. As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, he cupped it. At that moment, Marshall immediately knew that it was a mistake. He waited silently to hear the shadow figures' next move. It took about five seconds before the shadow reacted.
BAM!
BAM! BAM!
At that moment, Marshall froze in fear. This was one of the most traumatizing moments in his life. He was honestly unprepared for a crisis like this.
Out of nowhere, Marshall felt something touch his feet. He jumped in fright. When he looked to see what touched his feet, he was surprised to see the little kitten. While still being creeped out, Marshall was honestly happy by the little kitten's action. He would have been stuck without outside stimulation.
Finally, being able to think, his mind started running at a hundred thoughts per second. At the back of his mind, his intuition hinted that he should act soon, or he would painfully regret it. From what Marshall learned about zombies, he knew that loud sounds would attract them. That thought scared Marshall.
BAM! BAM!
Although startled, Marshall did not let the fear overcome him. He looked at the little kitten and silently thanked it before looking around his room.
Marshall did not have to wait long before he found the metal bat to the right of the window. When he touched the bat, a warm feeling flooded his body. The warmth was the last element he needed to calm down and plan his next move.
Marshall had to choose between going out his window or through the front door. Looking through the window one last time, Marshall knew that the front door was not a viable option. So, he could only choose to go out the window.
Before acting on his plan, Marshall had to take a deep breath and exhale slowly to psych himself in preparation for the danger ahead. He slowly pulled on the lift cord to lift the blinds to touch the bottom of the headrail, without alerting the shadow figure.
Success, Marshall thought after completing the task. Alright now for the next step, he finished saying.
Marshall had to lift the window up without making any loud sounds. This was the step Marshall was unsure about. Since he moved into the apartment with Von, he never had the chance nor the need to lift the window up. It would all be left to fate.
After putting his fingers underneath the lift, Marshall counted to three before taking action. He put just enough force on his fingers, for the window to move. To his surprise, the window did not make any sounds. What a F***ING miracle, Marshall said to himself.
Though happy, Marshall did not let this small amount of success get to his head. There were still more important things to do.
Sweat started falling down his face. Trying not to make a loud noise in a dreadful situation like this was stressful, and his face showed it. When the window was pulled to the top, Marshall released a quiet breath of relief.
The chilly night air entered the room, dropping the temperature. Marshall got goosebumps from the sudden temperature change. Subconsciously he released his breath and saw its fog. It was colder than it was supposed to be. Strange, Marshall thought. He quickly snapped out of it. He had some work to do.
BAM! BAM!
Usually, the banging noise would have scared Marshall, but this time he knew it was a good sign, relatively speaking. This meant the shadow figure had not moved from his front door.
Marshall then silently climbed out the window, one limb at a time. When his foot touched the ground, it was cold to the touch. This was not a surprise considering the temperature. Finally, outside his room, he reached into the room to get the metal bat. While picking the bat up, he caught sight of the little kitten. Marshall proceeded to make the shushing gesture at it. The kitten stared back at him as if he was stupid. Marshall almost let out a chuckle.
With the bat in hand, Marshall felt confident. Walking slowly with deliberate steps, he crept up on the shadowy figure. As Marshall got closer, he noticed the shadowy figure was a man in regular clothing. The closer he got to the man; he noticed something else. The man was giving off a distinctive odder. The smell was sharp and smelly similar to the smell of rotten eggs. Marshall wanted to gag, but he would not let himself.
About six feet away from the man, Marshall came to a stop. He was close enough to confirm the man's identity without compromising his safety.
“What's your problem? Stop hitting my door,” Marshall exclaimed to the man to gauge his reaction.
AaaaaAAAAAA!
The man turned around slowly, making ghoulish sounds.
Marshall got a good look at the man's face. Maybe due to the moonlight, the face of the man appeared extremely pale, as if he was dead. The irony was the man was a zombie.
Marshall almost swung his bat preemptively from the not-so-shocking discovery. He had to strain himself from doing so. It was not the right time. The zombie was not within his reach and was too close to his front door.
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Marshall spoke to the zombie while taking steps backward to lure it toward him. He succeeded in doing just that.
The zombies' first couple of steps seemed to be labored as it struggled to walk towards Marshall. Then it started to speed up out of nowhere. Marshall was not prepared for that. He almost stumbled due to this.
FCK, Marshall yelled to himself. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
Marshall sped up and kept a safe distance away from the zombie.